Jump
by RosettaEvans16
Summary: Levi jumps. Warning: attempted suicide


"Levi…" Petra pleaded, tears threatening to overflow from her eyes.

Levi met her gaze steadily, trying to express to her how sorry he was. She had walked in on him in the spare room on the fourth floor, a note on the empty desk, and one foot on the sill of the open window.

He had grown tired of all this fighting, tired of watching all of his comrades die as he continued to live. That guilt had been building for years, and he had always known that, one day, he would snap. Today just happened to be that day.

But this, this was not supposed to happen.

"Captain, please." Her voice shook slightly as she took a step toward him. "Please… Please come down."

She was not supposed to see him like this. No one was supposed to see him like this. He worked hard to maintain his cold, strong façade; his was the face of a warrior. He never wanted her memory of him to be diminished like this.

"Captain…" She took another step in his direction.

"Stop." His words came out colder than he'd anticipated. "Don't come any closer." Petra froze where she was, as if not to frighten him off.

Tears were streaming freely down her face now. "Levi, please… Just come down." Her voice held the hint of a panicked note. "It doesn't have to be like this. Just please, step down from there."

He had never wanted to see her look so sad, so hurt. He could not stand to look her in the eye anymore. "Petra…" His voice had been reduced to a whisper, trying not to let it break. He could see the rest of his squad at the door now, trying to see what was going on. He wished he could tell them just how fucking _sorry_ he was for hurting them. "Please understand. I have to do this."

"No! Wait, Levi! _Stop!_"

He lifted his other leg through the window and stepped out.

"_LEVI!_" He heard Petra scream as he fell through the air.

It was nothing like using the maneuver gear. There were no wires or machines to help him to safety. There was no way to stop this.

Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he looked down.

No…

Below, looking up with bright, confused eyes, was…

Damn it.

Eren Jaeger.

Of all the people in the scouting legion- no, in the _world_- this brat was the last one he wanted to witness his defeat.

He knew what he was in the kid's eyes. He looked up to him. He was the one that had accepted this strong mask of his so easily. Of all the people that knew him, he wanted this stupid kid to remember him as humanity's strongest soldier. Their eyes locked, and a look of horrified realization dawned on the kid's face.

Levi closed his eyes as he fell, unable to meet those pained, turquoise eyes anymore.

_Fuck. I'm sorry._

In that fleeting instant, he missed the new recruit shoving his thumb into his mouth, biting down harder than he ever had before.

A thunderous crack shook the ground beneath them, and a brilliant flash of lightning lit up the whole sky. Petra, whose squad members had held her back from jumping after their captain, watched in mute horror as the 7 metre class Titan appeared before them, cupping its hands together around something.

_No way… _

Motioning for the others to follow her, Petra turned and sprinted out the door.

In no time at all, Commander Erwin and the rest of the Scouting Legion had arrived on the scene, surrounding the Titan with their blades drawn. Ignoring the obvious danger around him, the Titan took a knee and lowered its hands to the ground, ever so gently placing the shocked captain on the ground.

Levi stared up incredulously at this giant, his saviour. "Eren…"

The Titan merely glared down at him, his gaze almost chastising.

_Don't you dare try that again_, it was saying.

And Levi almost laughed at the expression.

"Levi!" He turned his head to see Erwin running toward him. "Levi, what happened? Are you injured?" "Don't kill him," the man ordered, his icy tone had returning as he stood, brushing himself off. "Cut the brat out and lock him up, but don't kill him."

The commander nodded quickly and turned to the squads, barking the orders to them. They complied without question, and Erwin turned toward his captain once more.

"You didn't answer my question."

Levi exhaled with frustration. "I'm fine. And what happened isn't important." The blond raised his eyebrows at him, so he huffed and continued. "It was my own fault. Not the kid's. It's in the past now, so it doesn't matter."

Erwin would have questioned him further, except for the strange shriek that emitted from somewhere behind him, as Levi was tackled to the ground by his squad members, all yelling and crying and hanging on to him.

"H-hey! Stop this. That's enough, all of you." Levi ordered, trying to push them away. Erwin chucked when they promptly ignored him, pulling him in closer. He turned and walked away from them, deciding that whatever had happened, was too personal to be any of his business.

* * *

Eren sat in a dark cell in the dungeon, hands and feet shackled together. _Back here again_, he thought sourly, twisting his wrists against the uncomfortably cold metal. God, he hated it down here. Being locked up so deep underground, _literally_ immobilized, it made his desperate need for freedom almost suffocating. As if the sensation of being trapped and caged by the Walls wasn't strong enough already…

The cellar door swung open, and in strode Captain Levi, arms crossed over his chest, his face blank. Eren met his icy grey eyes in his own glare, noting the captain's bruised face somewhere in the back of his mind. He really hoped that the bruises weren't his doing.

Before Levi could get a word out, the boy had already begun to speak.

"If you think I'm going to apologize for shifting, think again." His voice practically vibrated with anger. "Because I'm not sorry for what I did. And I'm not going to promise it won't happen again, either. Because when you pull a stunt like that, I'm going to intervene, whether you like it or not."

"Watch it, brat," Levi hissed at him. "You're in absolutely no position to talk down to a superior officer. You're defenseless right now; I could kick the shit out of you and there would be nothing you could do about it."

There was a long pause before Levi spoke again. "I could have had you killed for what you did today."

"So why didn't you?" Eren twisted his wrists against the shackles once more. "I disobeyed orders and shifted without permission. So… Why didn't you kill me right then?"

He knew he was pushing the limit, questioning him like this, and braced himself for a knee to the face.  
Much to Eren's surprise, Levi instead sat on his knees in front of him, his features a little softer than usual.

"Because you risked your life to save my own." His voice was much softer, not freezing like normal. Eren stared at the captain, amazed that such a jerk could actually be… Kind. "Don't get me wrong; that had to have been the fucking stupidest thing I'd ever seen anyone do. Ever. But the fact is, you stopped me from doing something pretty stupid myself. So… Thank you. But," He pointedly glared at the kid before continuing. "If you ever shift without my permission again, I will kill you. This was your one and only chance. Got it?"

Eren nodded. "Yes sir."

"Good." His harsh glare changed to a more analytical expression. "You know brat, you're not bad."

Eren grinned at him. "Thank you, sir…. Say, what happened to your eye?" He knew he was pushing his limits again, but he had to know if it was his fault.

Levi snorted. "Petra. Once she had made sure I was unharmed, she promptly punched me in the face. Yelling something about me being an asshole."

Eren was laughing now, relieved. "Good. You kind of deserved that."

"Careful, you little shit. I can still easily kick your ass from here."

But they both knew that he would not.

* * *

**AN:** based off of a post by tumblr user humanitys-sexiest


End file.
